Pân Si Ned Celu…
by snaga-hai
Summary: When Merry is badly injured, Pippin must look after him - but there is only so much one can do to help. After a while, you run out of things to do. All you can do is talk. Tell them things. Discover things about yourself. They will be fine as long as you


Author Name: snaga-hai  
  
Fic Title: Pân Si Ned Celu…  
  
Chapter Title: Stumble (1/?)  
  
Rating: PG-13 (for graphic injury)  
  
Pairing: Merry/Pippin  
  
Spoilers: All Three Books  
  
Category/Genre: Romance, Angst  
  
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JRR Tolkien, various publishers including but not limited to Harper Collins. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
  
Summary: When Merry is badly injured, Pippin must look after him - but there is only so much one can do to help. After a while, you run out of things to do. All you can do is talk. Tell them things. Discover things about yourself. They will be fine as long as you stay. (Slash warning!)  
  
Author's Note: This is for my secret Pippin. Oh, and Elly, who told me to write this. This story will be shorter, more frequent chapters. It will eventually be one short(ish) story all in one part but I'm uploading it in bursts to see what people think.  
  
Chapter 1: Stumble  
  
"Pip?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Did you hear something?" Pippin shook his head.  
  
"No, why?" Merry frowned.  
  
"I could have sworn I heard something. Oh well." Pippin shrugged and they carried on walking. A few minutes later, Merry stopped. "There it goes again!" he cried, grabbing Pippin's arm. He turned to him. "Did you hear it?"  
  
"Yes, I think I did…it sounded like something rustling, it might be- Merry!" he cried, as a shadow leapt from the darkness and pushed Merry over, throwing him against a group of large stones. "Merry! Gerroff him!" he yelled at the shadow, and kicked it in the stomach. Not daring to look at Merry to see how badly hurt he was, Pippin drew his sword and began to fend off the attacker. They moved out from under the trees, and as moonlight splashed over the silhouette's face Pippin saw that he was fighting an Orc. Most of the Orcs had died off, of course, when the Ring was destroyed. They could not cope without their master anymore – however, by some horrid twist of fate, a few had survived. They haunted empty forests looking for another master, a purpose. Pippin was interrupted from his recollection of this when Merry cried out again. Pippin's hand tightened its' grip on his sword and he slashed at the Orc, pulling a clean line of wound across the flesh of its' chest. The Orc wailed as it stumbled to lean against a tree, and slipped down, clutching at its' torso as dark blood spurted from the wound.  
  
Time turned to slow motion as Pippin dropped his sword and span around. He cried out to Merry and ran over to him. Merry's hair had fallen into his face, and Pippin brushed it out of the way – there was a cut on Merry's cheek, which was bleeding badly. His shoulder was a gaping scarlet blur, and he clutched his right arm with the other, hands slipping and slithering on skin slick with both the sweat of fear and crimson coloured blood. He did not look like Merry anymore – more like a slain animal, for human flesh looks much like any other when bloody, or even dead. Pippin could only pray this was not the case.  
  
"Merry?" he asked cautiously. No response. "Merry?" he called, louder this time. Very slowly, Merry's eyelids lifted and he tried to focus on Pippin's face. A sigh of relief. "It's me, Pip. I…I'm going to get you sorted out, okay?" Merry attempted to nod, but stopped when he realised how much pain this one movement caused. Pippin scanned the surrounding area for a save haven where he could try to help Merry. His eyes fell on a nearby cave. It looked deserted.  
  
"Merry, I'm going to have to move you." Merry looked up at him, his eyes pleading silently not to be moved. "I'll only move you once, I promise. After that I'll make you better and then…then you can move yourself. Okay?" Merry nodded very slightly to show his approval. Pippin carefully slipped his arm under Merry's shoulders. Merry cried out, and Pippin shushed him. "It will be over in a minute. I'm not taking you far," he said, and slipping his other arm under Merry's knees lifted him and ran over to the cave. Merry screamed with the movement and Pippin strained to block out his cries. About halfway to the safe haven, Pippin slipped slightly and had to hold onto Merry tighter to keep them both upright. Pippin's hand got too close to Merry's shoulder injury in doing this, and Merry went beyond screaming, instead gasping for breath. Pippin felt tears escaping down his cheeks and almost cried out with relief as he reached the cave, where he could put Merry back down and perhaps then help him recover. The cave was indeed empty, and dry, which Pippin would have been thankful for if he had the time to consider it.  
  
Once Merry was settled on the floor, he started to cry, dry sobs creasing through his body. Pippin fell next to him and pulled his cloak back, ripping the fabric from his shirt. He used it to stop the bleeding on Merry's cheek and arm – the shoulder wound was too deep to try to stop. Pippin looked up. It had begun to rain.  
  
"Merry," he said. "I'm going to try and soak some of this fabric in the rain – that way I can clean you up properly." When he was sure Merry had acknowledged this, he ran out into the rain, ripping more of the cloth from his shirt as he ran. Hands shaking, he watched the light grey fabric turn slowly dark. Once it was thoroughly soaked through, he ran back to Merry.  
  
"Pip? Is that you?" he called weakly. Pippin's eyes lit up at his friend's words.  
  
"Yes, it's me. I'm here," he replied, and began to clean away some of the blood from Merry's shoulder.  
  
"Is it bad? It feels like it," Merry said. Pippin leant in to look at the shoulder wound.  
  
"It's quite deep, but it's clean. I think it's better to let the air get to it." Merry nodded, his neck moving a little freer now. Pippin shifted his legs from under him so that he was sitting a little more comfortably. "How are you feeling?" Pippin asked.  
  
"I'm okay, I think," Merry said. "I feel really dizzy…" His eyes began to flutter slightly. Pippin sat up, alert.  
  
"Merry?" he asked, but there was no reply. Merry was unconscious. After checking that he was still breathing, Pippin relaxed slightly. It was probably his body shutting off so that he could recover.  
  
The cave suddenly seemed very cold and empty, not to mention lonely. Pippin longed to hear a voice, footsteps or even the sound of the rain again. The rain had stopped now – the clouds were scattered and so were the showers.  
  
"I can't exactly move him," Pippin said aloud, looking at Merry. "He's bruised from them stones. If only I could get him back to Bag End though…" He sighed. "Not yet. He's not ready." A pause. "Why did that Orc have to attack us, anyway? It's Merry's birthday tomorrow, we were only out in the forest so that Frodo and Sam could sort his party out. He didn't know about that, of course. We kept it secret. You might as well know now, Merry, because we can't go anyway." Pippin looked at Merry. His breathing was laboured and irregular, which worried Pippin.  
  
"I hope you breathing like that isn't a bad sign," Pippin said. "I mean, I've not seen you this ill since the Orcs caught us last time. Remember that? Of course you do. How could we forget? It's not exactly easy to forget something like that." Pippin laughed suddenly. "We don't have much luck with Orcs, do we Merry? Just when they're all meant to be dead and all, one of the few left alive has to damn near kill you!" Pippin got up and began to walk around. "It's pretty ironic if you think about it, I mean, that one Orc finding us in this big a wood. Speaking of which, I'll be at a bit of a loss when trying to get you home – you're the one who knows the way. I don't even know where north is, let alone if we want to go that way." Pippin kicked a stone in annoyance.  
  
"Stupid rocks…always getting in the way." Pippin paused and looked at the floor. "Okay now I'm being silly. Merry will be fine, I am fine, and I will get us back to Bag End. Frodo and Sam will not panic and do something stupid…well, Frodo would, but Sam is there to keep him in check." Pippin walked back over to Merry and sat next to him. "I must look pretty silly sitting here and talking to myself. Beats moping around and wailing about your injuries, I suppose." Pippin looked at Merry's shoulder as he spoke. "Although I don't think that looks so good…" Pippin crawled around Merry and looked at his shoulder, trying not to get in the way of the light. "Oh hang on…I think that's just healing." Pippin nodded to himself, affirming this mentally. "It's just healing. He's fine. He's fine."  
  
Pippin moved down and leant against the cold floor, trying to get to sleep.  
  
"G'night, Merry," he muttered, and closed his eyes. 


End file.
